As the academic year draws to a close, we share with you some of the results and successes achieved on the ground by our teams and partners in 2022. During this period, the successful launch of our new 2022-2026 development programme has been at the centre of our concerns, in our desire to relentlessly pursue the construction of a sustainable, equitable and supportive world.

In   Bolivia,   Louvain   Coopération   is  particularly  active  in  the  prevention  of  violence  based  on  gender, a pervasive problem in the country: it is estimated that 8 out of 10 Bolivian women are victims. So there's a lot of work to be done with women to support them, listen to them and make them more financially independent. But we also need to work on the causes, to bring about a profound change in attitudes. That's why we work  with  young  men,  who   take part in reflections on new positive masculinities.

It's important to start early if we want to make an impact on attitudes. Numerous awareness-raising actions are therefore being carried out in a number of secondary schools. Educational tools to work on this theme are also being developed, aimed at teachers and school principals.

Information sessions are also organised within universities, and given by men. Thanks to these, participants are able to identify toxic attitudes and behaviours in their families and in the circles they frequent, but also to reflect on new forms of positive masculinity. To imagine how they, as men, can influence their society and fight machismo.

Together, they determine what changes they want to put in place in their behaviour, and how to achieve them. Finally, these young men are, over time, increasingly able to carry out an in-depth analysis of structural problems, which they sometimes even create unintentionally, and to share their personal experiences with other young men to create a snowball effect. 

So the task remains enormous, but the involvement of men is a very positive sign for the creation of a society that is fairer to Bolivian women.

  In 2022, 4,226 members of the education system trained and committed to preventing gender-based violence.